The invention relates to an arrow for a crossbow or bow, which is provided with a novel point structure which, on striking a target, for example a shooting target, penetrates the target, and enables retrieval of the arrow. The invention also relates to a flight stabilizer for a hunting arrow and to a method for mounting the stabilizer on the arrow.
Arrows of a great many different designs are known both for use during hunting and also when shooting at targets. They all suffer from the disadvantage that they penetrate the target and often cannot be rescued intact, since they break off when an attempt is made to pull them out. Practice or archery targets are thus manufactured at considerable expense from straw or similar material and, therefore, are very expensive in order to make it possible to pull the arrows out of the target undamaged.
In both archery and hunting, arrows frequently strike harder objects, for example tree trunks, and remain stuck fast in the tree, board, or the like. It is then impossible to pull them out intact, so that the entire expensive arrow is lost and cannot be used again.
The use of hunting arrows is known in many countries. In one form, the arrows have replaceable hunting points on the tip that are provided with sharp blades. When using such a hunting arrow, an accurate shot has so far not been possible except in absolute calm. Any side winds experienced during flight appear to press on the relatively large knife blades and can abruptly change the flight path of the arrow considerably. The result is a miss, usually associated with the loss of the expensive arrow. In addition, there is a considerable problem in that persons participating in the hunt can put themselves at considerable mortal danger from such a stray arrow. It often happens when such shots occur that the animal, if struck, is only injured and dies in agony.
A second major problem is that it is not possible to shoot accurately with a hunting arrow. For this purpose, archery=arrows are used that are fired at a target to gain information about aiming and flight. However, since hunting arrows have so far exhibited a completely different behavior in flight, it is practically impossible to shoot a crossbow exactly with the correct adjustment of a sight to determine the correct position of the bow or a harpoon or arrow for a certain range. Inaccurate shots, serious danger to hunters, and agonizing death of game are the result. Protests from animal rights organizations for these reasons are understandable.
The goal of the present invention is to make it possible to pull out arrows, along with the points, without the points being damaged. At the same time, the advance according to this invention makes it possible to use targets made of wood that are much simpler, and, hence, less expensive.
The present invention provides an arrow having a novel point structure comprising the point provided with a capsule that can be slid onto it and encloses it. When the arrow penetrates the target, the capsule forms the firing channel and remains deep in the target or in the object which it has struck. The point of the arrow is pulled out easily undamaged from the capsule, which remains stuck in the target. After a new capsule has been slid on, the arrow can be used again.
In order to keep the capsule from sliding spontaneously and inadvertently off the point after being slid on, provision is made according to the invention that easily releasable clamping fastening, for example by an elastic ring, is provided between the capsule and the arrow point.
Since, in accordance with the advance according to the invention as described above, the arrow point can be pulled out undamaged even from solid materials with only the loss of a small capsule, there is nothing to prevent the target according to the invention being made quite simply out of wood. A wooden target can be manufactured very economically and simply and is by no means as expensive as known targets made of straw or the like. As a result, the expenses associated with target shooting are considerably reduced so that this sport can be made accessible to a wider public.
In a further aspect of the invention, a flight stabilizer is provided. Extensive testing has resulted in the elimination of the aforementioned problems, with a flight stabilizer being created that consists of a material, plastic for example, that is easily destroyed when it strikes the target, and has an opening in the front for mounting on the hunting point, and is made hemispherical at the front (as viewed in the flight direction).
As a result of the hemispherical shape, an air flow along the hunting point is produced that is so strong and uniform that the arrow is not deflected during flight by side winds, not even by strong wind gusts, so that an accurate shot is always guaranteed. With an arrow fitted with an archery point of the same weight and with the flight stabilizer mounted on it, the weapon can be fired at certain distances from a target. For use in hunting, the flight stabilizer is then pushed onto the front of the hunting point with the aid of the existing opening. When the arrow strikes the game, the knives on the hunting point destroy the flight stabilizer without a considerable loss of energy and then penetrate unimpeded into the animal to be shot, killing it on the spot.
The invention also provides that the flight stabilizer preferably consists of a sphere that can be mounted on the hunting point.
The same effect is achieved if the flight stabilizer tapers toward the rear like a drop.
Many empirical tests with practically all of the hunting points that are commercially available have shown that the greatest stabilizing effect is produced when the hemisphere has a diameter between 20 mm and 25 mm. If the diameter is greater than 25 mm, the effect of side winds on the stabilizer is greater than the effect of the stabilizing flow and if the diameter is less than 20 mm, the stabilizing effect is not sufficient to keep the arrow precisely on the desired path with side winds.
Also, the invention provides that the surface of the flight stabilizer has regularly distributed indentations. A surface with such a profile, known for example from golf balls, serves only for stabilization of the flight path.
When a spherical flight stabilizer is to be pushed onto the hunting point, it has proven to be especially difficult in practice to push the sphere onto the hunting point precisely through the center. If the sphere is off center on the arrow, misses cannot be avoided. With respect to the above-discussed difficulty in practice of pushing the sphere onto the hunting point precisely, this problem is avoided by the invention in a simple and novel fashion. The invention provides that a support for the arrow be provided, preferably laterally on the shaft of the crossbow or bow, on whose extension a cylindrical receptacle for the spherical flight stabilizer is located. The arrow is placed on the support and the sphere is placed in the receptacle. By axially shifting the arrow, the hunting point strikes the sphere precisely in the center and penetrates it. The sphere is thus pierced exactly through the center. Then the arrow together with the sphere is removed from the support and then placed in the crossbow or bow for shooting. The device could also be utilized separately from the crossbow or bow on an independent support.
For simplicity of the design, the support is composed of two half shells matching the diameter of the arrow shaft, said shells being located one behind the other parallel to the shaft.
The receptacle for the spherical flight stabilizer is formed according to the invention by a cylinder located on an extension of the support, with the inside diameter of the sphere matching the outside diameter of the spherical flight stabilizer. An annular plug or internal flange with a central opening can be fixedly mounted at the end of the cylinder remote from the arrow to hold the stabilizer stationary while being penetrated by the arrow.
The invention, in all of its aspects, and as characterized in the claims, will now be described in greater detail.